Gift Guide for Foodie Friends

written by Julie Lee | photo courtesy of McMenamins

Can you feel it? The grip of panic starting to set in? With just ten days to go, it’s time to get serious about buying and wrapping those gifts, or you’ll look like a flop as the paper starts flying. We’ve got you covered—you and your foodie friends.

ROOTS

For that friend who loves to cook, there is no gift more perfect than a fabulous cookbook. Diane Morgan provides us with more than a cookbook, she bestows upon us a James Beard award-winning guidebook with more than 225 recipes featuring root vegetables. Waving a magic carrot, she somehow transforms yucca and turnips into page turners with stunning photos and interesting stories.

Holiday season: that time when a tin full of shortbread cookies rests on the edge of every water cooler, and a mountain of foiled chocolate balls can foil the best of diet intentions. Let’s be frank – everyone indulges during December. So, if we’re all going to cave to temptation and enjoy some chocolate, let’s make it count. Hand-made Seely Chocolate Mint Patties are hand made locally, sold locally and provide for a fresh kiss under the mistletoe.

What better find for a foodie friend than a gift that comes pre-wrapped in a bright pink box, tastes like heaven and gives back? For the rest of December, buy custom lemon shaped VooDoo doughnuts and proceeds go to Project Lemonade, one of the coolest nonprofits in town, benefiting local foster youth by providing necessities too many of us take for granted.

A little-known fact about the McMenamins enterprise is that it started as a local market in 1977, not a brewpub, to source imported brews and fine wines. Fifty-three pubs, restaurants and historic hotels later, the McMenamin brothers revisit their roots with the opening of 23rd Avenue Bottle Shop, furnishing a wide selection of craft beers, ciders, wine and spirits to grab and go on your way to the next holiday party.

All that head scratching and concern about finding the perfect gift comes to a head with one fruitful visit to SE Wine Collective. Launched in 2012 amidst the urban wine movement, SE Wine Collective is a grape-infused co-op for like-minded wineries sustainably growing their business from the ground up. Recently listed as a top 20 best wine bar in America by Wine Enthusiast, it’s the perfect one-stop shopping. Feel free to enjoy a flight yourself while you peruse the extensive selection.